This is a guest post from the diary of Leading Seaman Arthur Hawes.

We were aroused from our bed of straw at 2 o/c am & moved off at the double in order to get a bit warm. After the first mile we slowed down a bit & proceeded steadily on for the next four hours. Soon after dawn we came up to the Belgian artillery & here we halted for an hour. The Belgians gave us some hot coffee of which we were very glad. The kindness shown us by the Belgian soldiers all the time we were with them was remarkable; they seemed willing to put up with everything rather than let us go without. About 7.30 we arrived in our trenches (just outside Borsbeek) & we straightway fell to strengthening our positions. This took us all day & half the night. All the time firing was going on over our heads, on both sides. We worked in relays & by about 11 o/c we all felt we had done enough. On the average each of us had had about two hours of sleep since arriving in the trenches. This was how we spent that day. At 11 o/c the order was given “Man the trenches” & so the rest of the night we spent on the alert. Our position was this: – Immediately in front of the trenches were a few yards of open ground; then about 25 yards of barbed wire entanglements; then another stretch of cleared ground. About 1200 yards from us was a line of woods, farm houses &c. Behind these were the enemy. All night our forts fired into their position & several times we let off with our rifles as it was very likely they would try a night attack. They did not however, & dawn relieved the tension & we were able to have a short rest. Of course everyone did not go to sleep together but we worked in watches.

This is a guest post from the diary of Leading Seaman Arthur Hawes.

About 9 o/c got in our train & travelled all night in darkness, as we did not know but what our train would be attacked. However this was not so and at 6 o/c in the morning of October 6th we arrived at Antwerp. Here we had a terrific reception from the people, who showered cigarettes, cigars and all kinds of food on us. We were very grateful for these & also for the coffee, Bovril & tea which they had ready for us at the station. We marched from the station to a small village about five miles outside the town. Here we were billeted in an empty house, where a dinner was given us by the Belgian soldiers. (This was Wilrijk.) We had not been here more than two hours though when we once more had to fall in & had more ammunition served out to us, together with identification discs. In a short stirring speech the Commodore told us that the Germans were at Lierre (we could hear that by the gun fire) & that we were to go at once to the trenches to help the Belgians who were pretty tired. We marched off but found it was impossible, owing to the heavy shell fire the Germans were pouring in, to take up our intended position. Accordingly we turned our steps in another direction & halted in a new line of trenches. We did not stay here more than about an hour however, as we had once more to be on the move. This time we had a long march, passing on our way evidences of the German shells in burning houses & others all in ruins. At night we halted in a country lane, had some food (bully beef¹, tea & biscuits) & then turned in on some straw which we took from a farm near by. We were now just outside Lierre.

1. “Bully Beef”: more commonly known as corned beef, a staple of troops in WW1 and all later conflicts until quite recently. ↩

This is a guest post from the diary of Leading Seaman Arthur Hawes.

On going on deck found we were off the coast of France & also discovered that our troop ship was guarded on either side by a British destroyer. We were met outside Dunkirk harbour by a French destroyer & then piloted in. Arrived along side at about 10 o/c & finally landed in the afternoon. After being served out with some grub & also ammunition we found we were off to Antwerp. We spent some hours on the quay amusing ourselves with the French people who came to have a look at us. About 9 o/c got in our train & travelled all night in darkness, as we did not know but what our train would be attacked.

This is a guest post from the diary of Leading Seaman Arthur Hawes.

Early this morning we were aroused by the sound of the réveillé, & hurriedly dressing we were all soon on parade, where we were told by our Commander that the camp life we had been enjoying at Walmer had come to an end, & we were to pack up at once as we were to leave for Dunkirk at mid-day. We had none of us the faintest idea what we were going to do when we got to Dunkirk, but everyone was overjoyed to think that we were going to make a move anywhere. The camp was soon in a great state of excitement & after a hurried breakfast we packed up & finally at 1.30pm we started off & marched to Dover. Our kits were sent on by train. We arrived at Dover soon after 4 o/c & marched on to the pier, where we had a glorious wait until 11 o/c for the boat to arrive. However we got on board at last, & at 3.30am Monday morning started off. Slept for a few hours in the hold on some cases of provisions & about 5 o/c went on deck.